​The drive for better quality and safer food products by consumers in several emerging and established nations and the push for boosting consumer confidence among several food brands have boosted the demand for food certifications. Coupled with this, the rising incidence of food contamination has intensified the need for food certifications for a number of restaurants, food brands, and food-service companies.

These standards, usually comprehensive in nature, offers information on a variety of operational, nutritional, and environmental standards and covers the entire supply chain. Not only quality, consumers world over are become increasingly concerned about what exactly goes into their palates, including the source of food, especially for poultry and meat products.

The rapidly rising consumption of convenience food has generated huge interest among several restaurant chains in developing and developed regions in obtaining food certifications. Witnessing abundant burgeoning opportunities, the market for food certification is expected to rise at a CAGR of 5.3% from 2015 to 2021.

Which application segments are expected to witness substantial uptake of food certifications?

The major application segments of food certifications are organic food, dairy products, infant food products, poultry products and processed meat, beverages, and other packaged food segments, mainly consisting of bakery products. Of these, there is a substantial uptake of food certifications for other packaged food segments. Meanwhile, there is expected to be substantial demand for food certifications among players in the beverages segment, including carbonated and non-carbonated drinks.

The substantial uptake of food certifications in the beverages segment is driven by the rapidly growing hospitality sector. ISO 22000 Certification, is one of the prominent food certifications in food and beverages industry, which mainly seeks to address various biological, chemical and physical hazards in the processing and packaging stages.

Researchers at the University of Milan conducting a survey of 131 Italian food firms have revealed that voluntarily implemented food traceability schemes are increasingly driven by the motivation for enhancing information, safety, and quality management in their supply chains. The study explored the link between the motivations nudging firms to adopt various food certifications related to quality and traceability compliance in major segments such as fruit and vegetable, confectionary, bakery, processed seafood and processed meat, and dairy. In addition, the urge to implement compliance requirements to manage the level of complexity in traceability is negatively correlated by profitability-related motivations, confirms the results. The study covered the period during January 2015 - June 2015 and researchers had prepared ad hoc questionnaire focusing on Italian certification organizations. These motivations to adopt food certifications bode well for the market.

Which are the prominent regional exhibiting significant demand for food certifications?

Geographically, Europe is the major market for food certifications and is expected to grow at an impressive pace over the forecast period. The substantial demand for food certification among food chains and food service companies is attributed to the elevated consciousness levels of the food consumed by the population, with a focus on sustainable foods.

The burgeoning standard of living is a key factor propelling the demand for food certifications in Europe. The growing demand for healthy and safe food products among consumers is bolstering the uptake of food certification programs in the region. Market players are currently witnessing lucrative opportunities in country such as France, the U.K, and Germany.